


Red X unmask

by Randomana83



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Teen Titans Go!
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Grief/Mourning, Redemption, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-02-01 03:18:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21353713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Randomana83/pseuds/Randomana83
Summary: After wondering for a long time what's under the mask, Robin and the Titans may finally know the answer. Especially if Red X comes in their home claiming he knows Slade is. And as a token of good faith, Red X will show them what's under his mask and his origin story.
Relationships: Robin/Starfire
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

Red X smirked under his mask as the Titans give chase. When would those kids ever learn that no one can stop him for he is number one. "I see him!" Cyborg shouted, whose pointing at the thief as her climbs the fire escape.

"You're not getting away this time, X!" Robin declears. How many times has the kids said that? Too many to count. The Boy Wonder shoots out his grappling hook to the roof. Red X calmly waits for the bird to catch up. "End of the line, X." Robin stated.

"As much as I enjoy our little playdate, kid, I got places to be and sights to catch." Red X mocks.

"You're not going-"

Too late. Red X pressed a button on his belt and just like that, he's gone.

"Away." Robin finishes. He lets out a frustrated groan and punches a nearby wall. Soon after, the rest of the Titans join their leader.

Seeing how angry Robin looks, Starfire place her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "Worry not, Robin, for one day we will apprehend the Red X." She assures him.

"Thanks, Star." Robin smiles, feeling better already.

  
  
  


At the other side of Jump City, Red X climbs inside of his apartment window with the loot he stole. He opens the bad to reveal hundreds of Diamonds that can set someone for life. “Hopefully this would be enough to start over and get away from this city.” Red X mumbles. After he leaves the city, he will forever hang up his cape and lead a normal life.

He was about to remove his mask when he felt a presence behind him. He quickly constructed a large 'X' shape shuriken and was ready to throw it at the introducer, when he froze.

Right in front of him is a 6'4 ft man with a half orange mask showing one eye. The giant man is crossing his arms as his lone grey eye narrows at the teen. Slade aka Deathstroke is standing in his hideout, his home. Crap. Underneath X's mask, his teeth clenching in fear What's Deathstroke's doing here, Red X has no idea. Unless…

No! There's no way he can no. He made sure of it. Red X took a deep breath and crossed his arms, mirroring Slade's. "Never realized the big bad Deathstroke wanted a tour of my lovely home." Red X greeted.

"Oh, so you know who I really am?" Slade asked in an amused tone.

"Unlike those five wacko children, I actually done my research. And plus, having one eye is a dead giveaway." X mocked.

Slade narrows his eye as a warning to watch who Red X is taking to. "Speaking of those 'wacko children'," The mercenary began. "I heard you had a run with them."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"You're the reason why Robin is always motivated in stopping you. In other words, you're the reason why he's been improving."

"I'm flattered. Now what do you want?"

Slade took a step forward, which made Red X involuntarily step back. "Stay away from the Titans. Especially Robin. They and only they, are mine too mess with." He warns.

"Geez Deathstroke, I didn't know you had dibs on the bird and his friends." Red X rolled his eyes. Slade suddenly threw his fist against the wall, inches from Red X's face. "What the fuck!?" He cries out.

"That was a warning shot. Next time I won't miss. Just remember, stay away from Robin." Slade threatens. He began to walk back to the fire escape.

"I know the real reason why you're after Robin!" Red X calls out. This makes Slade freeze in his tracks. "And I'm pretty sure bird boy won't fill whatever is left in your life." Red X continues.

“Do you now?”

Beads of sweat are running down his face underneath his skull mask. Red X is deathly afraid, but he’ll be damned to show his fear. “If you manage to get Robin and successfully kill his friends, there’s no way in hell he’ll ever forgive you.”

Slade said nothing and jumps down the window. As soon as the cost his clear, Red X let out a breath of air as he collapses to the floor. His heart is racing so fast that he thought it would burst out of his chest. "What was I thinking?!" He hisses. "I could've given myself away right there!"

He calmed down for a bit, before his neighbors could hear him. There must be a reason why Deathstroke threaten him today since he antagonize the Titans before.

There is only one thing that’s gonna happen, Deathstroke is planning to kill the Titans soon and Red X is the only one that can save them.

“Fuck my life.” Red X mutters to himself. “I just have to been born with a conscious.”

  
  
  


The thief is now standing in front of Titans Tower currently thinking on how to convince the Titans he’s on their side. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have enough time to think since a bunch of starbolts are coming down at him. Red X backflips away from them when a green monkey lands on top of him. Beastboy was blocking his eyesight so he couldn’t dodge Cyborg’s blast.

Red X went flying and landed harshly on the ground. He manages to get Beastboy off him only to see a bunch of crates engulf with Raven’s magic hover above him. She release the crates, which Red X somersaults away from it. “Guys, calm down! I’m not here to fight!” Red X yells. Either the Titans didn’t hear him or simply didn’t believe him, but they kept on attacking. “Screw this.” He says.

He summons a bunch of shurikens and begins to fight back. In self defense of course. A bunch of arm movements later, all five Titans are captured. All of them are stunned at the fact Red X took them down so easily.

“Dude, you beat us in less than a minute.” Beastboy stated.

“Have you’ve been holding back when we crossed paths before?” Cyborg asked

“Unbelievable.” Raven mutters.

“Why did his victory feels so familiar? Like we have been defeated like this before?” Starfire wonders.

As the Titans are asking questions, Robin is struggling to get free from the xenothium. “What do you want, X!?” Robin shouted. “Have you come here to humiliate us?!” Red X raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Relax, kid. I’m just here to talk.” Red X answered honestly.

“Yeah right! If you just wanted to talk, you shouldn’t have attacked us!” Beastboy disagrees.

“Uh,  you guys were the one who attacked  me  first.” Red X reminded him.

A sweat drop appear on Beastboy’s head as he chuckles awkwardly. "Hehe… Right."

“Whatever it is, I know you’re full of it!” Robin shouted.

"I swear on my life, I just want to talk." Red X promised. "On gesture of my word," He pulls out the bag of diamonds he stole earlier and tosses it in front of them. "You can have them back." He says.

The five teens looks at the diamonds that are spilling out of the bag and back to the thief. "Do you look at us as fools? Surely this is a form of trickery you are planning." Starfire accuses.

"I'm not!" Red X retorted.

"I can sense his sincerity." Raven spoke. Now all eyes are on her.

"You believe me?!" Red X exclaimed happily.

"I can only sense that you're feeling scared, but not for yourself and you feel overprotective." Raven explains.

"What happen to only looking out for number one? Have you gotten soft, X?" Robin smirks.

Red X clenches his fist and took a deep breath. "Listen here, Kid. Have you ever considered the seriousness of me coming to your home like that?! No! So shut up and listen!"

Robin didn't respond back. It may be due to the fact that he never heard him yell like that. And if it wasn't for the voice modifier, they would've heard his fear. "What is it you want to talk about?" Starfire asked.

"Before I answer that, I need your word you won't arrest me the moment I release you guys." Red X demands.

Robin swallows his pride and nodded. Red X reaches into his utility belt and pulls out a spray can. He walks up to them one by one to spray some solvent at the xenothium. The xenothium begins to melt away, thus freeing them.

"Alright, now tell us what you want to talk about." Robin says.

"Slade's back in town." Red X bluntly stated.

"Yeah, we know. BB ran into him last week." Cyborg replied.

"But what you don't know is the whole story." 

"What story?" Raven asks.

"The whole story of Slade. I know who he really is." 


	2. Chapter 2

Red X never thought he'll be back inside the Titans tower. More like he thought he'll never get invited in. Now here he is, standing in the middle of their main operations room. The five Titans are sitting on the couch waiting for him to start talking.

"You claim to know who Slade really is?" Robin asked. Everyone can hear the doubt in his voice.

"Yes, I do." Red X confirms. "I saw him today. He broke into my 'headquarters' this morning and threatened me to stay away from you guys. I think he's planning on killing you guys and kidnap your leader."

"That's it? That's all you need to tell us? I'm afraid you wasted everyone's time." Beastboy rolls his eyes.

"Man, this isn't something new. Slade's been trying to kill us every other week since we moved here. And all those time we kicked his ass." Cyborg stated.

"But this is different! I think he's planning something big and this time he won't fail!" Red X objective.

"Slade may be a psychopath and a madman, but we have bested him before. We can handle him." Robin spoke.

"That's because you only been fighting him as Slade, not as Deathstroke!" Red X shouted.

Both Robin's and Cyborg's eyes widened. The others look at X confusedly. "Please, what is a Deathstroke?" Starfire asks.

"A dangerous man. If he even is one." Robin answers. Cyborg gets up from the couch and goes to the super computer. He begins to type away. The screen shows a bunch of newspaper of Deathstroke latest kills and a blurry photo of a man running away.

"Deathstroke the Terminator, the dangerous mercenary in the world. He has over 2000 confirm kills world wide. No one knows who he is or how he looks like." Cyborg explains.

"Over 2000? Dude, that's insane. How has this guy never been caught?" Beastboy mutters.

"Even Batman had trouble taking him in. Deathstroke had bested him before and disappeared from Gotham.

"Are you sure Slade is Deathstroke? Maybe you're just confused." Raven reasons. 

"I'm 100% sure. Kid, Cyborg, what is rumor that Deathstroke is missing?" Red X test them.

"That he has a missing eye!" They both answer at the same time.

"I don't believe it. All this time we've been fighting one of the most wanted man in the world." Cyborg says.

"I don't understand. If this Deathstroke really dangerous as people says he is and Slade and Deathstroke are one and the same, how is it we come out victorious when we battle with him?" Starfire questioned.

"Like I said before, you only fought him as Slade. If you were to fight Deathstroke, your life will be forfeited." Red X stated.

The five teenagers when dead silent. All they did was look at their feet and most likely thinking how lucky they are to be alive. After the brooding was over, they regain their posture. "So, how is it you know Slade?" Raven asked.

"It's a long story, so please strap in your seatbelts." Red X says. The Titans stood up straight and lean forward. "Let's start with Slade attempted to make Robin his apprentice." He says.

Robin visibly flinched, which Starfire caught on. She squeezes her boyfriend's hand in letting him know that he's safe. "Why must you go there? That memory is highly unpleasant for all of us." Starfire asked.

"Because Robin wasn't his first apprentice... I was."

All five Titans gasp.

" You're the reason why Slade kidnapped me to make me be his apprentice?" Robin accused.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think he'll do that. I just thought he'll move on and leave the city."

"Why would he do that and why aren't you his apprentice now?" Cyborg asks.

"Now you need to hear my origin story. It all started almost two years ago when I left my home with Deathstroke. I knew who he is personal and wanted to be him. I trusted him. So the two of travel to Jump City to begin my training. He taught me different forms of martial arts, battle tactics, wield different types of guns, and just about everything you need to learn about being a successful mercenary."

"I thought you hinted you knew how to be a hero! Now I'm hearing you wanted to be a mercenary! You wanted to take lives to make a profit!" Robin accused.

"In the beginning I did. Of course I was conflicted in taking a life, but Slade assured me that we'll only be taking out bad people. You know, like corrupt government officials, high ranking criminals. He convinced me we were being heroes in our own ways. I was okay with that."

"He's telling the truth." Raven confirms.

"Anyway, on the day I was supposed to help him carry out a contract, Slade gets a call. Judging by his panicked voice, it was an emergency. He quickly left me here and hop on a plane back home. At first I was disappointed that we had to reschedule our first contact together, but then I was relieved. I think on that day, I couldn't take a life, no matter how evil the person is."

"Oh how noble of you! I'm sure that was the day you quit being Slade's apprentice!" Starfire exclaims.

"No it wasn't. It was the day I decided to leave when I got a phone call from my mother."

"Did Slade hurt your family?" Beastboy worriedly asked.

"Yes he did. My mother told me that a group of thugs broke into their homes and held her and my little brother hostage. They held knives against their throats in order for them not to struggle. When Slade got there, they demanded to know a client's information that Slade was protecting. Of course Slade didn't give the information up. Not even when my little brother begged him not to let them kill him and my mother."

"That bastard! How low can get this guy get!?" Cyborg yells.

"Very low. Slade got cocky. He honestly thought he could kill those thugs before they could get to my family. Unfortunately, he didn't. Slade only managed to save my mother. When he went to save my brother, the thug slit his throat before Slade killed him."

"How horrible! Oh your poor brother." Starfire sniffs.

"That's why my mother called me. To tell me what Slade had just done. Luckily for my brother, my mother got him to a hospital in time. However, his vocal cords got severed and will never speak again. My mother in her grief and anger tried to kill Slade. She shot him in the back of his skull. She only managed to take out his right eye."

"You got one tough Mama!" Beastboy praised.

"I do, don't I? Anyway, after hearing what Slade has done to my little brother, I decided Slade to be too dangerous to hang out with. There's no telling what would happen if I stay there longer. I had to get out there. So I thought of an only solution... I faked my death."

"You faked your death!?!" The Titans exclaimed in shock.

"It was the only way. Slade was never gonna let me go. He felt that he failed my mother and brother. In his mind, he is the only one that can protect me from impending danger. He was not gonna lose me. If I just ran away, he'll spend all his resources to track me down and hid me forever. Worst case scenario, he'll go after my brother. Faking my death is the only way to escape from him.

"How did you manage to fool Slade into thinking you were dead?" Starfire asked.

"It wasn't that hard. I broke into a med school and stole a cadaver that resemble me. I then made sure to add my blood, skin, and hair so that the DNA comes back to me. Then I waited for the perfect time to blow up a building with Slade thinking I was in it. Then after the ambulance retrieved 'my' body I hack into their database and made sure the dental records matched mine. It really wasn't that hard."

"That's kinda disturbing that you find this all like a walk in the park." Raven stated. Red X shrugged at her.

"But what about your family? They probably don't know you're alive in fear of Slade spying on them." Cyborg wonders.

"That's the one thing I regret most. But like you said, Slade occasionally keeps tabs on them, so it's too risky. I really hurt Mom and Joey. I'll do anything to see them again. But as long as Slade's out there, I can't go back."

"That still doesn't explain why you're a thief and why you stole my Red X suit." Robin reminded.

"I'm getting there, but… Oh boy, you guys are so gonna hate me for this."

"Whatever you tell us, we won't hate you." Starfire promised.

"Unless you killed someone, then we'll hate you." Beastboy admits. This makes Raven elbows at him. "Ow! I was just joking." Beastboy glares at her.

"By the way, how is Slade involved with you and your family? And why was your mother okay with you taking an apprenticeship with a mercenary?" Robin questions.

"My mother didn't know that Slade was a contracted killer. She thought Slade was taking me to California to have a college tour that will take all summer. And as for how Slade's involved with my family…" Red X is rubbing his arms and his whole body is shaking. "Slade's my father."

"...."

" YOU'RE FATHER!? " 

"Now it makes sense! Your father's a criminal and so are you! Like father, like son!" Robin shouted. He was about to throw his birdarang, when the Titans held their leader down.

"Robin, please hear him out." Raven said. Robin struggle to break free, but soon gave up. Red X took this as a sign to continue. He reaches for his mask and slowly begins to pull it out. The five Titans watch in eager anticipation to finally see how Red X looks like.

The mask comes out to reveal blonde locks that are spiked down, thick blonde eyebrows, and familiar grey eyes. Overall, this teen is very handsome. Raven and Starfire tried very hard to fight back a blush on seeing a good looking boy.

"My name is Grant Wilson. It's nice to meet you, Titans." Red X smirks.


	3. Chapter 3

Grant waited in anticipation as the Titans stared at the unmask their. Grant jumped and did a jazz hands pose. "I know. I'm a damn good looking guy." Grant smiles.

"You're not what I imagine you look like." Robin admits.

"What did you expect me to look like?" Grant asked.

"I imagined you to look like a punk with piercings." Raven answers.

"You having a snake tattoo on your face." Cyborg chimes in.

"I thought you will be ugly." Starfire added.

"Man, I thought you were Jason Todd." Beastboy grumbles in disappointment.

"Who?"

"Ignore him." Raven replied. Robin gets up from the couch and stood in front of Grant. He eyed the teen up and down.

"Are you checking me out in front of your girlfriend, kid?" Grant asked in an amused tone.

"We're the same age and yet, you keep calling me 'kid'!" Robin shouted.

"Kid, you're 15. I'm almost 19. I'm pretty sure you are a kid compared to me." Grant stated.

"Ha! We're almost there same height! You're pretty short for your age!" Robin laughs. That's when Grant drops his smile and slowly forms a frown.

"Keep laughing, bird boy. We'll see if you find Slade killing your friends funny." Grant hissed. Robin awkwardly chuckles and turn to his friends. He expected them to back him up. But to Robin's surprise, they instead have a straight face. "Sorry." He apologized.

"So what happened after faking your death? Did you decided to commit non lethal crimes?" Raven questions.

"I wasn't planning on being a thief. Honestly, I wasn't. But like every teenager, I didn't think my plan through. Shortly after faking my death, I didn't know where else to go. I didn't have any money to leave Jump City and start over in another place. I didn't have enough money for food. I became a homeless teen with nowhere to go. So I became a thief to survive. I didn't become Red X right away. I usually just pickpocketed to have money for food. Or I break into hotels to wave a bed to sleep in. My plan was to wait for my father to leave this city so I can come out of hiding and find a job."

"What made you become the Red X?" Starfire asked.

Grant turned to look at Robin and smile at him. "It's all because of you, kid."

Robin took a step back and pointed at himself. "You became Red X all because of me?" He asked.

"I became Red X for you, kid. Allow me to explain. I occasionally break into my father's hunt to steal extra bits of money. Not enough for him to notice that someone was in the hunt. Anyway, one night I was there to steal more money and that's when I saw the two of you. I was really shocked that the hero Robin was turned to the dark side. But I was more shocked on how easily my father replaced me. It hasn't been a year of my supposed death. I got jealous of you, kid."

"I'm… Sorry." Robin apologized.

"Don't be. Luckily, I stay a bit longer hearing your conversation. I heard everything. How my father was blackmailing you in order to serve him, how you'll thank him someday, how the two of you have a lot in common. Then I heard how he can be a father to you. And that's when I learn what he really wanted."

"What did Slade really want?" Beastboy asked.

Grant looked Robin straight in the eye. Robin looked a little uneasy and tried to avoid eye contact. "You know the answer. Don't you, Robin? Deep down you know why Slade's obsessed with you."

"I didn't want to believe it." Robin whispers. "If I accepted it, then I'll be humanizing Slade."

"Robin, what do you think on what Slade really wanted?" Cyborg gently pursuit.

"During my time as Slade's apprentice, he gave me a vibe that Slade wanted a child and he will kill to get one. I thought in his mind, Slade has everything he wants in this world but a kid to call his own. This whole apprenticeship was just a ruse so he can be a father." Robin answers.

"Dude, that's nuts! Like a psychopath like Slade can a loving father. He most likely abused Grant and his brother." Beastboy stated.

"Actually, Slade wasn't abusive to my brother and I. In fact, he was a normal, caring father." Grant chimes in.

"Now that , I won't believe." Raven rolls her eyes.

"It's true. Slade taught us how to ride a bike, attended parent teacher conference, saw our school play, grounded us when we misbehave. The only problem was that he was rarely at home. I do remember one time Joey came home with my mom crying that our father missed his talent show. Or me being disappointed he missed my soccer game. But he will always make it up for us when he takes us out for ice cream. In my younger years, I always wonder what job makes him take so many business trips? Now I know why."

Starfire placed her hand on Grant's shoulder. "Do not place your guilt on yourself. For you did not know your K'norfka focus more on his despicable action than his family." She smiles.

"Thanks. I'm pretty sure 'K'norfka' means father in your tongue?" Grant asked.

"That is correct." Starfire nodded. The other Titans got up and gather around Grant. Each offering the teen their support. "In case you ever felt like crap because of who you're related to, just remember my father's the devil." Raven assures him.

"And I have an evil older sister." Starfire added.

"Duly noted." Grant smirks.

"Hello? When are we getting to the part where Blondie decided to become Red X and what does it all have to do with Robin?" Beastboy reminded them.

Grant's face flushed with embarrassment on how off topic he become. "Sorry." He meekly apologized. "Where was I? Oh right! After realizing that my father didn't want an apprentice, I knew that I really hurt him for what I did to him. I guess my father's heart wasn't really all black. But that doesn't excuse him for what he did to the Titans. I stayed a bit longer gather as much information as possible on rescuing from Robin from my father. When I compose the data of the hunt I sent out the coronations to Cyborg."

"That was you?!" Cyborg blurts out.

"You never did tell me how you were able to find me." Robin told Cyborg.

"I received an anonymous email of an unknown location. All it said was, 'you leader is here'. I was a bit skeptical at first, but it was all the lead we had. We only knew that you were being blackmailed into attacking us. We just didn't know where you were being held." Cyborg explained.

"That was all me." Grant bows. "After you were rescued, kid. Slade did vow there will be another day. Now that's something my father doesn't take lightly. I knew this wasn't over. So I kept tabs on you. I used my father's skills into tracking your every movement. The more I spied on you, the more I realized how you and I are alike. My father was right about picking you to replace the child he lost. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts making you dye your hair blonde. I decided that I must see you as a little brother. And the job of an older sibling is to protect the younger ones. That's when I hack into your tower's online system to steal the Red X suit. It was the only way to keep an eye on you without knowing who I was. It was a good thing too. Have I never did, you and the city would've been killed by professor Chang."

Robin took a deep breath and sat back down on the couch. He rubbed his temples and tried to comprehend everything he learned to take. Slade was right, everything has always been about him. "I'm so sorry." Robin apologized in a weak voice."

Grant looked taken back. "What are you sorry for, kid? None of this was your fault." He assured. He sat next to Robin put his arm around him. "I should be the one apologizing. If I hadn't been a coward and not faked my death, none of you would have suffered so much turama. For that I'm sorry." Grant apologized.

"This isn't your fault either, Grant." Raven disagrees.

"Yeah, man. You didn't asked to be that madman's son. You felt you were in danger from him. No child should ever feel that way to their parents. Anyone of us would have done the same things in your shoes." Beastboy says.

"BB's right. You have done what you thought what was best for yourself. That's something we won't judge you for." Cyborg agrees.

"And if you still feel you are at fault, just know we have all done something stupid." Starfire reasons.

"Thanks for those kind words, Titans. I'm really jealous that you have each other. You are the perfect family." Grant admits.

"You don't have to be jealous anymore, Grant." Robin spoke.

"What do you mean?"

Robin reaches into his utility belt and pulls out Titan communicator. The other four Titans gasp in excitement as Robin hands the communicator to Grant. "I'm asking you to join our family, Grant. You can make Red X into a hero." Robin proposed.

Grant took the communicator and looked Robin in the eye. "No. I've been hiding from Slade for almost two years." Grant said.

The Titans's eyes widen with hurt and disappointment. Before they can protest, he cut them. "I'm not joining the Titans as Red X. I won't wear a mask anymore. Instead, call me Ravager the Avenger." He says. The Titans clapped and cheered that Grant will be joining then after all. Grant's eyes sharpen. "It's time for me to stop hiding."


	4. Chapter 4

"And here's how to use the supercomputer. Just long in using your password and you'll get all the information we have on villains and allies." Cyborg instructed. Grant nodded, understanding every word he heard. He sat on the chair and input his password, which is  _ Ravager@1984 _ . Grant saw a list of honorary Titans. He was about to click on the file, but hesitate. "What's wrong?" Cyborg asks.

"Do you really trust me with all this information? I could be lying to you like how Terra did." Grant questioned.

Cyborg looked taken aback at the fact that Grant knew about Terra. "How do you know about Terra?"

"Beastboy told me all about her. I honestly feel for her. I know how great of a manipulator my father is. You shouldn't hold a grudge against her."

"We don't. Everyone, including myself have forgiven her. For BB's sake, I hope Terra joins us again. And Grant, we do trust you as well. Raven told us how you're genuinely afraid of Slade and the remorse you feel for lying to your mother and brother."

Grant smiles in relief on how much the Titans trust him despite the annoyance he put them through. "Thank you." He replied. He clicks on the file to see all the honorary Titans names. He doesn't know why the list intrigued him so much. He scrolls through all the names when the name 'Jericho' caught his eye. "Could it be?" Grant whispers in disbelief.

"Could it be what?" Cyborg asks.

Grant didn't answer and click on Jericho's name. His grey eyes widen at the sight of the mute hero. He stretched out his hand to the screen

"What's going on?" Beastboy asked, who just enter the room.

"I don't know man. Grant's been acting weird ever since he saw the name 'Jericho'." Cyborg answers. Beastboy looks up at the screen and then at Grant.

"Jericho is your little brother, isn't he." Beastboy stated.

Grant finally snapped out of it and nodded. "Yeah, that's Joey. He was only 10 years old when his throat got slit and the last time I ever saw him." He confirms. "He's grown so much."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to know you're alive and well." Cyborg smiles.

"He can't know!" Grant suddenly yells.

"He has to now since you claim you're done hiding." Cyborg reminded.

"Only from my father." Grant says.

"I don't understand your logic. You want to show your face to Slade, but not from your mother and brother? Dude, I'm pretty sure Slade will tell them once he finds out." Beastboy stated.

Grant's world just shattered on what Beastboy just said. "Fuck, you're right." He mutters.

  
  
  


Beastboy is reading the menu on his favorite diner as he's waiting for a friend. A waitress comes by his table with a notepad on her hand. "What can I get you, sweetie?" She asked.

"I'll have an apple pie with a glass of soy milk please." Beastboy orders. The waitress jots down what he said and walks away. That's when the changeling spotted his friend. "Yo, Jericho! Over here!" He waves. The blonde mute smiles and makes his way to him. Jericho begins to sign.

_ "Hello, Beastboy. It's nice to see you again."  _ Jericho greeted.

"Likewise, man. I'm glad you made it."

_ "You said it was urgent. So what is it you want to talk about?" _

"Geez... I don't know where to start. Umm… What can you tell me about your father?"

Like Grant, Jericho was taken aback by this. That's when Beastboy saw the resemblance between the brothers. Jericho's face then darkens and began to sign rapidly.

_ "My father means nothing to me! All he did was cause me and my family pain! He lied to us our whole life! He's the reason why I can't talk! His ego was more important than my life! But the worst part is he got my big brother killed!" _ Tears are now rolling down his face. Beastboy hands him a glass of water to calm him down. After chugging the beverage, Jericho wipes his tears.  _ "He tore my family up and took my brother away. I miss Grant everyday." _

"I'm sorry about that and for randomly asking about your father." Beastboy apologized. "But I have a feeling what I'm about to show you will make you happy."

_ "Happy? I don't understand. Why did you bring me here?" _

On cue, Grant enters the diner and stands by the doorway. He's wearing a green color jeans jacket, a blue shirt with the Teen Titans logo, and a blue baseball cap. Jericho turns around and hour jaw drops open. Grant smiles nervously and waves.

"Hey bro… Ya miss me?" Grant greeted. In less than a millisecond, Jericho runs straight at him and tackles him in a hug. Grant was about to return the hug when Jericho punches his stomach. Air escape his mouth as he dropped to his knees and clutches his stomach in pain. Who knew the little guy can pack a punch? Hot tears are rolling down Jericho's eyes as Grant begins to get up. "I deserve that." Grant wheeze.

Everyone at the diner stares at the commotion. Beastboy gets up went over to the brothers. "Nothing to see, folks. This is how they greet each other in their country." He announced. They shrugged and went back to eating. Beastboy puts his arm around Grant and helps him walk out. "Let's take this outside, guys."

They sat on a nearby bench as Jericho is angrily staring at his brother. "I'm sorry for tricking you I was dead." Grant apologized.

_ "You don't get to be sorry! How dare you do that to us! Do you have any idea what you put Mom through? Put me through?! I went through the most traumatic experience of my life. I needed you by my side. But you still sided with that excuse of a father! But I forgave you for that. Then I heard you got yourself killed because of him. I thought, 'what else can Dad take away?' I wanted to die that day! And here you are now, living a lie." _

"You're right. I don't get to be sorry. That was a cowardly thing to do. I was afraid Dad will come after me if I ran. Or worse, come after you. I should have went to Mom and trusted her to keep us safe."

_ "You broke Mom, you know you really did." _

  
  
  


_ Flashback _

_ Joey is watching TV while Addie was cooking dinner. It's been five weeks since the incident and he's been working on his ASL to communicate. Addie assured him his Dad will never come near him again. He doesn't know why, but he has a feeling his mother killed him or something. Deep down, he felt all of this wasn't his Dad's fault. He tried to save him after all. _

_ The phone suddenly rings, interrupting his thoughts. He heard his Mom answering it. Joey was hoping that his brother's coming home. He hasn't seen him in forever. "OH MY GOD! NO! NOT MY BABY!" Addie screams. This makes Joey jump out of the couch and ran to his mother. He lightly gasped at the sight of his mother sobbing on the floor. The phone is next to her as she screams and cries. _

_ "What happened?" Joey signs. Addie turns around and suddenly hugs him. He returns the hug, but is still confused. "Mom, what happened? Why are you crying?" _

_ Addie sniffed and held her composer. "Joey, sweetie... I can't lose you too. I love you." She said. _

_ "I love you too, Mom. What's going on?" _

_ "I got a call from the hospital… Grant was involved in an accident and he… He didn't make it. I knew I should've killed that bastard!" Addie sobbed. _

_ Joey couldn't believe what he heard. His older brother was dead. His Dad had something to do with this. He just know it. Like his Mom, he's crying with her. Joey tried to scream, but his throat wouldn't let him. _

_ He now takes everything back. He doesn't want to see his father ever again. _

  
  
  


Grant was staring at the ground as Jericho finished his story. Beastboy is awkwardly comforting Jericho as he looking away. "Is Mom feeling better now?" Grant asked.

_ "No. Mom felt everything was her fault. She didn't trust herself to take care of me, so she sent me away to Tibet." _

"Well, I'm done hiding. I'm gonna find Mom and explain why I did it. I just hope she can recover. And I'm really sorry. I just needed to get away from him."

_ "I do understand why you fear our father. But it would have felt nice if you told me about. I guess I deserve to be a little selfish. Let's just hope Mom will forgive you." _

"No matter what happens, you always have a home with us." Beastboy assures him.

Jericho looks at Grant's shirt and at Beastboy.  _ "Wait, you're with the Titans." _

Grant smiles and pulls out his communicator. "I joined a couple days ago." Then his face darkens. "I ran into _ him _ a couple days ago too. He's planning something big against them. I wanted to help and in order for them to trust me, I stopped hiding and told me who I am." He explains.

Jericho's face looks fearful.  _ "He's here in this city? Right now?" _

"Looks like it. But don't worry, we're going to stop him." Beastboy declears. Jericho hugs Grant again and smiles at him for the first time.

_ "I'm glad you're alive, brother. When you feel ready to tell Mom, come and find me so we can tell her together." _

"Will do, little brother. I love you." Grant promised. Jericho waves them goodbye and walks away. As soon as he's out of sight, Beastboy turns to Grant.

"Why didn't you tell him he was the reason you decided to get away from Slade?" He asked.

"Joey needed to know I only did it for a selfish reason. If I told him I did it because of him, he'll only be feeling tremendous guilt. I can't do that to him." Grant reasons.

"You're a good person you know." Beastboy smiles. This makes Grant smiles and stares at the blue sky as the wind gently blows his hair. 

Their communicators suddenly beeps, getting both their attention. "What is it, Robin?" Grant asked.

"Slade's back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out how I invision Grant  
https://www.deviantart.com/radomanime/art/Red-X-is-Grant-Wilson-820428389?ga_submit_new=10%3A1573870745


	5. Chapter 5

The five Titans are glaring at the screen of the supercomputer due to the sight of their arch enemy. Even though the madman is wearing a mask, they can tell Slade is grinning underneath it. 

"Slade." Robin growls with menace.

"Hello, Robin." Slade greeted. Robin clenched up his wrist as Starfire took a protective stand in front of the Boy Wonder.

"What do you want?" Raven glares at him.

"I can't simply give you guys the answer. You know better than that, Titans." Slade teased.

"Nice of you to make a courtesy call. We're doing fine, thank you very much. Now if you don't mind, we're a little busy right now." Beastboy sass him. Before Beastboy can turn off the screen, Raven stops him from pushing the button and points back at the screen.

"Just get to the point before I let him cut you off." Raven threatened.

"I suppose since you're eager to die so soon." Slade response. The screen pans out to show Slade standing on a cliff side with the whole view of Jump City behind him. "I'm sending you the coordinates of the location where we're going to meet. I expect to you see you Titans real soon." Slade said.

"You are crazy to think we will simply obey you just because you told us to! No Slade, we will not be manipulated so you can send us to our grave!" Starfire yells.

"Yeah!" Beastboy and Cyborg agrees. Slade respond by showing a button attached to his arm. It looks similar to the one that he had to threatened Robin with the probes.

"You honestly didn't think I would attack without a plan? And here I thought you taught them better, Robin." Slade chuckles.

"Don't you dare make fun of my team!" Robin retorted.

"They're the ones who don't think ahead, they're the ones who underestimate their opponents, and they're the ones who are weak because they rely on their powers too much. But I guess I can't really blame them for having an egotistical leader." Slade listed. 

"Enough of the mind games! Just tell us your diabolical plan!" Starfire demands.

"During my 'absent' period, I required a generator that causes powerful earthquakes that can level an entire city. I place four generators around the city. If you don't meet me in an hour, you can say goodbye to your precious city."

"Hah! Like we're falling for that stunt again! Man Slade, you're really off your game today." Cyborg laughs. Slade narrows his eye and pressed the button. Immediately after, the entire tower begins to violently shake. All five teens fell to the floor and yelled out in fear as they couldn't even move their bodies. Finally the rumbling stops. Thankfully, there seems to be no damage to the tower and to the city.

"That was one generator. Just imagine if all four was on at the same time." Slade stated.

"Okay, we believe you. Just send us the coordinates." Robin sighs in defeat.

Slade smiles underneath his mask. "Glad we came to an agreement, Robin." The supercomputer altered that they received a notification. "Looking forward to seeing you, Robin. You too, Titans." Slade signs off.

No one spoke a word. Some of them are still recovering from the earthquake and some is staring at the blank screen. Only Robin's the only who's visibly upset about this whole ordeal.

"You know this is a trap, right?" Raven broke the silence.

"We know." Cyborg sighs.

"Do you think this is the day Slade will kill us that friend Grant warned us about?" Starfire questioned.

"I know it is." Grant steps into the room with his hands in his pocket. "My father's a patient man. In his mind, his plan will be flawless and he'll get what he wants." Grant stated while looking at Robin.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Robin gulps.

"Don't worry, I have an idea that will mess up his 'flawless' plan." Grant smirks with confidence.

The Titans arrived at a warehouse that's just outside the city. The warehouse looks fairly new like it was recently built. There's no one around the area, not even birds are flying around.

"We'll, we're here. Now what?" Raven asked.

"We go inside." Robin answers. The Titans nodded at each other and proceeded to go inside. Robin's heart is bumping with fear and anxiety. But at the same time, he feels a little excited for what's to come. They step into the middle of the warehouse to find it dark. The only light coming through the windows. "Alright Slade, we're here! Show yourself!" Robin calls out.

On cue, all the lights turn on and pointing at the teen teenage heroes. Some of them are blinded by the lights shining at their eyes, but not Robin. Robin is glaring right up at a railing where a figure is standing.

"Titans, how nice of you to show up. I was beginning to think you got a little lost." Slade appears.

"This ends today, Slade! Or should I say…. Deathstroke!" Robin declears . Slade's grey eyes momentarily widen and his shoulders stiff a bit. He then chuckles and regain his composure.

"I'm surprise you guys figured out who I really am. I'll give you that." Slade praised. Then his eye narrow rather menacingly. "However, knowing who I really am won't save you for what's about to happen."

"Bring it on, Slade! We'll stop you from killing is!" Beastboy declears.

"Yeah! We're ready for your robots!" Cyborg yells.

"Oh, you won't be fighting my robots." Slade chuckles. He jumps to the railing and lands in front of them. His footing made a huge dent on the concrete floor. "You'll be fighting me."

The Titans gasp and immediately got on their fighting stance. "You're crazy to think you can take the six of us out!" Robin shouted. This causes Slade to tilt his head.

"'The six of us'? Who is the mysterious sixth person?" Slade demands.

A couple of red shurikens are thrown at the mercenary. Slade jumps away from them in a nick of time. Grant, now dressed as Red X jumps next to the Titans.

"That will be me." Red X stated.

Slade's hands instantly clenches as his eye became slit like. "You," He growls. "I told you to stay away from the Titans and instead, you join them? How pathetic. You could have lived a long life."

"Life's an adventure and full of risks. Besides, I don't recall you being the boss of me." Red X replied.

"Titans, GO!" Robin declears. 

Starfire begins to bombard Slade with her starbolts. Slade dodges amazingly with his agility. She gives chase as she tries to get one hit at him. He runs up a wall and pulls out a gun. Starfire froze in fright as five bullets are coming straight at her.

Luckily Raven was quick enough to use her powers to throw a lead pipe between them. She spins the pipe around to deflect the bullets from hitting Starfire. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven chants. She throws a couple of crates at him, which Slade pulls out a bow staff and obliterates them with each hit. He throws the staff at her, which she easily caught it with her powers. That's when Slade appears behind Raven and punches her square in the face. This instantly knocks Raven out cold. He aims the gun at her and was about to pull the trigger, when Cyborg and Starfire tackles him.

"You will not harm our friend." Starfire growls. Cyborg held down Slade's arms as Starfire attempts to put him in a chokehold. She tries to put more pressure around his neck, but Slade was struggling too much. He then runs back to the wall and begins to slam Starfire with his body. Try as she might, but Slade's physical strength rivals her own. Maybe even more. Cyborg tries to prevent him from slamming Starfire by using his legs to prevent Slade from moving. Unfortunately this wasn't enough as Slade kicks Cyborg straight at his jaw, knocking him down. With Cyborg out of the way, he flips over Starfire and stomps her on her head, also knocking her out.

Now they have three bleeding Titans bruised up and unconscious. Beastboy took a step back out of fear. Grant was right. Slade had been truly going easy on them the whole time. Seeing his girlfriend and comrades lying on the cold concrete floor sent him flying in rage.

" **Ahh!** " Robin lets out a battle cry. He ran straight at him with his fist in the air. Slade easily dodges the upcoming fist and roundhouse kick to Robin's temple. The Boy Wonder lands harshly on the ground groaning.

Well, at least he wasn't unconscious like the others.

Beastboy gulp and took a fighting stance, while his body is shaking. Slade quickly shoots the changeling in the thigh without batting an eye. "Ahh! I didn't even get the chance to fight!" Beastboy cries out. Red X was about to check in on Beastboy when a bullet shot in front of his foot.

"I'm gonna enjoy killing you, X." Slade admits.

"Bring it on, old man! Let's see if you can keep up!" Red X engages.

The two of them are having a stare down when Red X teleports behind him and aims a punch at the mercenary. Slade quickly dodges the punch and aims a kick at the former thief. Red X begins to throw a series of combos at Slade who actually has to take a couple of steps back.

Red X did a spinning kick, but Slade caught his ankle and slams him on the ground. Grant coughed out blood underneath the mask. "Time to die." Slade said.

He pulls out a sword from his back and aims at the neck. Red X's body sprang back up and kick the sword away. Slade's eye widen in shock, which X took the opportunity to get a hit on his gut. Then he knees Slade's jaw which a sickening crack was heard.

Raven's eyes flutter open as her conscious is returning. Her sight cleared up to witness Red X gaining the upper hand. She went over to Starfire side and begin to heal her. 

Red X's fighting combos is beginning to resemble some form of breakdancing. He would use his hands to spin his body and legs around to rapidly throw kicks. He was about to throw one final punch, when Slade grabbed his wrist and flung him across the room.

" **Enough!** " Slade roars. He pulls a button from his sleeves and hovers his thumb over the button. "I was gonna wait for the Titans to recover to see your mangled corpse and watch their city fall! But looks like the honor will fall to you.  _ This _ will be for my son who died in this very location."

"You're  **CRAZY** , old man!" Red X screams. "This won't bring your son back!"

"You think I don't know that!?! The least I can do as his father is to avenge the city that killed him!" Slade screams back.

"Your son wouldn't want this! Killing millions won't make him happy!"

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIM! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM!"

"Because," Red X took out his skull mask to reveal his spikey blonde hair and the same shade of grey eyes. "I'M your son!"


	6. Chapter 6

_ A young blonde baby boy who looks about to be six, is running across the green field with a bright smile on his face. “Catch me, Daddy! Catch me, Daddy!” He squealed. The boy kept on running until a pair of strong hands grabs his sides. _

_ “Gotcha!” His Dad smirks. _

_ “Yay! You got me, Daddy!” He giggles. His Dad throws him up in the air and catches him. “You had fun today, Grant?” He asked _

_ “Uh huh.” Grant nodded. _

_ “You boys having fun?” _

_ They turned around to see a beautiful woman with chocolate brown hair, lime green eyes, and a smile that looks exactly like Grant’s. “Mommy!” Grant runs up to his mother. His mother picks him up and spins him around. _

_ “Hi, baby. Did you have fun today?” She asked. _

_ “Uh huh. Daddy took me to the zoo and I got to pet the sheep. And then we went to Big Belly Burger and Daddy allow me to have the big milkshake”,Grant emphasize at the word ‘big’. “And then Daddy took me here where we play hide and seek!” Grant answers. _

_ “I’m glad you two had fun.” His Mom smiles.  _

_ Grant turn to his Dad with hope on his grey eyes. “Can we do this again, Daddy? Huh? Can we?” He asked. His father’s smile flaters for a split second before anyone noticed. He bends down to his son’s level and patts his son’s blonde hair. _

_ “I’m so sorry, kiddo. But I have a press conference tomorrow in Tokyo, so I have to leave tonight. But don’t worry, I promise to make it up to you.” His Dad apologized. This makes Grant to look down at the ground and his eyes instantly watered. The boy tried to be tough like his parents, but ended up weeping. _

_ “Aw sweetie, don’t cry.” His Mom hugs him. She begins to soothed down his hair. “I promise you and I will have just as much fun like your Daddy did.” Grant nodded as he hugs his mother back. He’s glad that he has a kind and caring mother. However, his mother is shooting her husband a death glare. She waited for his son to dried down his tears before turning to her husband. “Grant, sweetie, please wait in the car. Mommy needs to have a chat with Daddy.” His Mom chirps. _

_ “Okay, Mommy.” Grant obeys before running off. His mother made sure her son was out of ear shot because she doesn’t want Grant to hear her yell. _

_ “ _ ** _ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND?!? YOU’RE SERIOUSLY CHOOSING YOUR CORPORATE JOB OVER YOUR OWN FAMILY!?!_ ** _ ” She rages. _

_ “Addie, please listen. You know I hate being away from you guys, but this job requires me to travel a lot and it pays real good.” He reasons. _

_ “I don’t care how good it pays. I need you to be here for us. I don’t want my kids to grow up without a father, Slade!” Addie counteracts. Slade’s mouth gapes open a bit and his body stiffens before regaining his composure  _

_ “You’re pregnant,” Slade stated. _

_ “About 7 weeks now. Thanks for noticing.” Addie rolls her eyes. She then jabs her finger against Slade’s chest. “You’re gonna have to call your business partner and told him he’s gonna do this conference alone because you’re coming with me to our baby’s ultrasound. Do I make myself clear?!  _

_ “Yes, Addie.” Slade sighs. _

_ “Good. Now go tell our son you will be here tomorrow and spend time with him.” Addie demands. _

_ “Please stop acting like I don’t care for my own child.” Slade glares. _

_ “You’re the one who leaves us every other week. I don’t want you to do the same for baby number two.” Addie says. _

_ “Did you told Grant he’s gonna be a big brother?” _

_ Addie gave him the biggest smile she could muster. She placed her hand on his shoulder, “I think you should be the one to tell him. You are his father after all. _

  
  
  


The entire warehouse is silent as Slade is staring at the unmask Red X. Grant is panting as he tries to give Slade a sympathetic look. “April Fools.” He awkwardly chuckles. Slade drops the button to the ground, which Raven immediately uses her powers to get it away from the madman. “Well, aren’t you gonna say anything?!” Grant demands. 

Raven has just finished healing Starfire. The alien was about to jump back into the action, buts stops when Raven put her finger over her lip and points at the father and son duo. Starfire understood and lay back down on the ground. Raven went over to Beastboy and began the healing process.

“You can’t be real.” Slade whispers. “This is the Titan’s trick.”

Grant nervously gulps and shredded his Red X outfit. Now he’s wearing a navy blue bodysuit with a bright blue armor covering his chest, steel knees and shoulder pads with the Titan’s logo on the shoulder pads, and a utility belt. “It is real, old man, Get use to it.”Grant coldly stated. 

“ **WHY?!?** ” Slade roars in rage. “Why did you betray me, Grant! I took you in when I didn’t have to! You were happy at my side!”

“I was at the beginning.” Grant admits. “But I only wanted to follow in your footsteps because I wanted to spend time with you. You were never home. I was basically growing up without a father, so I confronted you about your secret work. I was in turmoil about staining my hands in blood, but I told myself it would be worth it if it means spending time with you. But then I heard what happened at home. You choose your work over Joey! How could you!?!"

" **I tried to save your brother!** I honestly tried! I thought I got it all handled! Not a day goes by where I don't beat myself up for it! I was the one who took Joey to the hospital. I wanted to go back and kill the rest of the Jackals, but that's when your mother shot me in the eye."

As Slade was arguing with Grant, Raven's already done with Beastboy and is now moving onto to Cyborg. "That's right, Grant. Keep him distracted." She whispers to herself.

"You could've left this mercenary life behind! But instead you selfishly choose money over us!," He pulls out a stick which it extends to a sword. "Now we will be your downfall, 'father'." Grant declares.

Slade response by taking out his own bo staff. "I'll discipline you, you brat."

"You're not fighting him alone!"

Slade turns around to see all five Titans up and ready in a battle position. All of them free from the scars and bruises thanks to Raven’s healing. Robin steps up with his bo staff in hand, “You fight one of us, then you’re fighting all of us!”

The mercenary eyes the Titans and back at his son. “Those so called heroes teamed up with a known thief and the same heroes forgave the traitor that nearly destroyed the city.” Slade stated.

“You leave Terra outta this!” Beastboy yells

“That girl was and always is a part of it.” Slade calmly replied.

“Enough talk!,” Grant twirls his sword around and aims at Slade. “Are we gonna chat or we gonna fight?” He asked. Slade throws a flash bomb which blinds everyone. Grant felt something wrap around him and went flying to the wall. When his vision cleared, he saw himself glued up to a wall. The teen struggle to get himself free to no avail. “What is this?! Release me!” Grant demands.

“I have no wish to fight you, son.” Slade said. His eye narrows at the Titans who are regaining their eyesight. "I can see the Titans were being a bad influence on you." He said.

"How are _ we _ being a bad influence on him? Grant's older than us." Beastboy wonders.

"Guys run! Slade's has me now! You guys can still get away from this!" Grant pleaded.

"No way man, we're not leaving you." Cyborg shook his head.

"You are our friend and one of us now. It will be our pleasure to fight for you." Starfire added.

"Did you forget you're also a Titan too?" Robin smirks. Raven simply nodded at him with a small smile on her face.

"That's not gonna work, Grant." Slade spoke. His grey eye looks at his son's hand which has a dagger and is trying to cut the sticky residue. Grant's eyes widen in shock as he knows he's been caught. "Though I do have to give you credit for your attempt to distract me since it could have with any villain." Slade praised.

"Oh?," Grant smiles, "This isn't what we're distracting you for." Although the smile looks innocent, those grey eyes didn't match the tone. Slade looked up and his eye widen at the sight of every crates and pipes hovering above him.

"Now!" Robin signals. 

Raven drops them as Starfire begins to bombard her Starbolts at him. Slade dodges them all rather fast, but didn't account for Cyborg's sonic blast. The blast hits him in the chest and a green ram hits his back. Slade recovers and aims his staff at the changeling who turns into a hummingbird and misses. Starfire let out a battle cry and lasers his chest. This time the laser burns his clothes and skin which shows a sickly red color on his chest. Slade groans in pain as he clutches his chest. Unfortunately for him, Beastboy comes running through and drops kick the mercenary.

"And that was for shooting me earlier!" Beastboy yells.

While that was going on, Robin makes his way over to the former thief. Grant's already has his left arm free from this point. Robin begins to help free him. "This is it, Grant. Today's the day we end the reign of Deathstroke the Terminator." Robin smiles.

"Let's make sure you didn't just jinx it, kid." Grant winks. With one final tug, Grant was freed from the what that was stuck to him. "Together, Robin?" He offers his hand. Robin grabs his hand and nodded.

"Together, bro." Robin accepts. The two of them went running at Slade, who already seems to be winning against the others. Robin slams no staff at the mad man's mask which makes a crack. Then Grant swings his sword at his face, but Slade paries it with his staff. Robin throws a couple of birdarangs at him. A couple of ice encases the grown man up to his chest. Grant raises his sword up with cold grey eyes.

"What are you gonna do, Grant? Kill your own father? Do it. I won't stop you." Slade encouraged.

"Oh my gosh. Is he gonna do it?" Beastboy whispers.

"I hope he does the right thing." Starfire replied.

Grant's arms began to tremble as he glares at his father. Then his eyes soften and lowers his sword. "I can't do it," He looks down at the ground in shame, "As much as I want to kill you to protect the others, I can't kill my own father." Grant turns around staring right at him, "But that doesn't mean you are forgiven."

"How sad, you just had to inherit your mother's empathy." Slade response. In a blink of an eye, Slade shatters the ice prison. Grant was about to attack him, but Slade struck him across the face.

"GRANT!" The Titans cried out.

The blonde is laying on the ground unconscious, with blood running down his mouth.

"How could you!" Raven roars in rage. She was about to unleash hell when a swarm of sladebots come bursting in the room. The Titans began to fend them off as Slade goes over to Grant.

"No! Get away from him!" Robin screams. He was about to run at them, but was held back by the robots. He watched in horror as Slade flungs Grant over his shoulder. "Stop!" Robin pleaded.

"My lost son has returned to me. I have no use for you, Robin." Slade stated.

At that moment, Grant opens his eyes and punches at the mercenary's face. Robin has never seen such rage in ones face. "The name's, Ravager!" Grant screams as he burst opens the mask.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a drawing of Grant with blood on his mouth  
https://www.deviantart.com/radomanime/art/Injured-baby-boy-821490980
> 
> And here's another drawing of Adeline Kane. I tried my best to make her look like Grant  
https://www.deviantart.com/radomanime/art/Beautiful-Mama-Kane-821491273

For so long Robin always wanted to know how does Slade looks like behind the mask. Now his wish is coming true as the shards of the mask is falling down. Pale blonde hair was the first thing the Titans saw, then the black eyepatch that’s covering the right eye, next is the shock piercing grey eye, and finally the blonde goatee is the last to be revealed. Slade looks to be a middle aged man in his 40’s. Robin’s jaw drops open to see the resemblance between Slade and… Jericho! That was something Robin didn’t expect.

Once the last shard lands on the ground, Ravager roundhouse kicks his father away from him. A loud grunt is heard as Slade lands harshly on the ground. Ravager is panting angrily as he’s still bleeding from his mouth. “Aren’t you gonna wipe it off?” Cyborg asked. Ravager shook his head with a small smile on his face. Slade gets up with his own blood running down the corner of his mouth, perfectly mirroring Ravager’s.

“Now I’ll wipe it off.” Ravager replied. The Titans circle around the mercenary with their powers activated. Slade looks calmly at each and everyone one of them, with eyeing Ravager a bit more. Then Slade closed his eye and chuckles. This kinda bothers Robin seeing Slade looks so human.

“You always did have a difficult time making friends your own age, son.” Slade spoke. Starfire’s starbolts glows bigger and brighter as she took a step closer to him.

“At least he has some! Do not let me catch you disrespect my friend like that again!” Starfire threatens.

“Disrespect? Oh no, Starfire, you got it all wrong. I’m in fact respecting him for that.” Slade corrected.

“Everyone take a step back from him!” Ravager warns. “When he says something like that, it means he’s about to launch an attack!” Slade turns to face his son now with a neutral look.

“You still remember how I work, Grant? You’re the same you and I. And that's to be expected since you are my flesh." He said.

"Don't you dare compare yourself to Grant!" Robin roars.

"Oh, don't be jealous, Robin. You are like us as well. If the two of you were to hang out together, people might have thought the two of you are brothers." Slade smirks.

"Enough talk! Let's finish this!" Beastboy declears.

"How foolish are you? You all disappoint me. Especially you, son." Slade shook his head.

"Do _ not _ call me that." Ravager growls. For a moment there, everyone saw a sincere smile on the villain's face before pulling out another button from his belt. "Don't tell me!" Ravager gasps.

"It is." Slade confirms. "You honestly didn't think I won't have a backup? I thought I taught you better than that, son." Raven was about to use her powers to get the button away from him when Slade pulls out a device that's attached to his sleeves and activates it.

The button that Raven took away from Slade earlier send out an electrical current throughout her body. She let out an ear piercing shriek before landing on the ground. "No, Raven!" Beastboy yells. He was about to run over to her side when Slade stops him.

"Not so fast, Beastboy. Take another step and I'll level your precious city." He warns.

"What do you want?! And it's better not to kill the Titans since you didn't know I was alive." Ravager asked. Slade narrows his eye at with hate. But the hate doesn't seem to be aiming at Grant, it seems Slade is hating at life in general.

"I do want to kill the Titans, Grant. I didn't want to at first. Hell, I didn't even care for them. The moment I thought I lost you, I was in hell. Everything in my life went wrong: Joey went mute, your mother hated my guts, I lost my eye, and most of all, I lost you. I curse the world and all the Gods that exist. Then I thought, 'why is it my life that's going through hell? Why isn't this city going to hell with me?' That's when I decided I want to destroy Jump City. Everything went to hell the day we moved here. I initially placed bombs in highly populated areas to go off. I was in the roof of the Town Hall waiting to see chaos, but then," Slade's hands clenched as his body shake with anger. His eye look at the Titans with such hatred they ever seen.

"Wait a minute. The bombs that were found at the mall and at main street was all you?" Cyborg asks.

"Oh course." Starfire gasped.

"We stumbled upon them by accident. Cyborg and Beastboy began fooling around the mall. They both got on Raven's nerves and she accidentally set off her powers, breaking a chunk of the mall's escalators. That's when we saw a timer attached to it." Robin summarized.

"And after we disabled it, Cyborg found another frequency by main street altering us of another bomb. After we disabled that one, the city acknowledge us as heroes and our popularity skyrocketed." Beastboy finishes. 

"That's right. It took me weeks to plan out that attack. But you children walts to my city and ruin everything I worked so hard to build. That's when I decided you guys have to go. But before I got rid of you, I wanted to see if any or all of you are worthy to allow to live. That's the real reason I send the Hive kids to go after you." Slade reveals. Then his grey eye shrink with madness, giving him a craze look on his face. It's really unsettling to see a man who was calm, cool, and collected, to now be a crazy psychopath. "Since my son seems to value you Titans, I'll allow you all to live as his slaves. After I destroy this city, you'll have no choice but to live with me, Grant. Then I'll find your mother and Joey and bring them to our new home. We'll finally be reunited as a family just like the good all times." He laughs.

"Your twisted vision will not come true!" Starfire cries out.

"Robin, catch my body and don't attack Slade after I trap him." Ravager whispers.

"What?" Robin asked in confusion.

"None of that is coming true!" Cyborg yells, activating his sonic cannon.

"But Cyborg, it already is." Slade smiles. His thumb is hovering above the button, when Ravager whips out his fingers.

He has his thumb, index, and middle fingers in a circle and aims it at his father. "Mind Transfer!"

_ His spirit flies inside Slade's body and successfully invades it. Grant is now floating in a dark space where only a few lights are shining through. Grant shudders at the cold atmosphere around him. "So, his heart is not all that black." Grant stated, while looking at the few lights. He flies over to the nearest light and touches it. _

_ He's suddenly at a military base where a man and a woman are the only ones there. Upon closer look, Grant realized that the man wasn't really a man, he looks like a teenager his age. And it wasn't just a teenager, he was his father! The woman has a beauty spot under her left eye, so that must mean she's his mother. _

_ "My name is Sergeant Kane!" Her voice booms. "I'll be your mentor the rest of your cadet training!" _

_ "You're my mentor? That's just no way. You're just a woman!" Slade mocks. His mother simply smiles and picks up a gun. She then aims at the practice dummies and headshot them all. She wasn't done yet. This time she picked up a bigger gun and aimed perfectly at the target ranges. "How's that for 'just a woman'?" Addie pured. _

_ A small red tint appears on Slade's cheeks. "When can we start?" He asked. _

_ Grant got himself out of that memory and went back to the cold dark field. "Huh, so Dad wasn't kidding when he said it was love at first sight." He said to himself. "Anyway, next memory." This time, a light came to the young Titan and he was teleported to another scene. _

_ The new place was a cliff not to far from a military station in a foreign country. He sees his parents sitting on a picnic blanket with his mom hugging her knees and staring at it. Slade puts his arms around and began to rub her shoulders. _

_ "Addie, is something wrong? You've been avoiding me and everyone all day. You know you can tell me anything." Slade assures her. Addie looks at him with worried green eyes and then sighs. _

_ "Might as well tell you now since I can't avoid this forever." Addie sighs. She gently takes Slade's hands off her and sat up straight. She tries to look him in the eyes, but ultimately closed her eyes. "I'm pregnant." Addie reveals. Slade's eyes widen with shock and then he smiles. He tilts her head up and passionately kisses her. _

_ "Ew, that's so gross! Did not need to see that!" Grant shudders with disgust. _

_ "That is the happiest news I've ever heard of my life." Slade smiles. _

_ "You're not upset by this?" Addie asked. _

_ "Are you kidding me? The moment I saw you, I knew I wanted you to be the mother of my children. I'm already loving this child to death." Slade stated. Addie smiles and kisses her boyfriend. _

_ "I'm so happy you feel that way. I was afraid you wouldn't be happy and break off what we have." She admits. _

_ Slade pulls her into a hug and place his hand over Addie's belly. "I would never leave the both of you. Never." He vows. _

_ Grant leaves this memory rather feeling bitter. He clenches his fist as he remembers all the times his father's never been him when he needed him. "If only Mom knew what a liar you turned out to be." He glares. "I bet everything was a lie. He never cared about us." Another light appears in front of Grant. He rolls his eyes and touches it since he wants to get out of here already. _

_ Slade changed out of his Deathstroke outfit and into his military one rather quickly. He jumps into a cab where Slade barks the address to the driver. The cab speeds off as Slade rapidly dials a number on his phone. It went straight to voicemail, which let out a series of curses. The cab finally stops in front of a two story house. Slade throws the money at the driver, not caring all the bills were twenties and practically jumps out of the cab.  _

_ He burst open the door to see his wife holding his newborn in her arms. Addie tried to give him a smile, but instead gave him a look of disappointment. She sat down on the couch and reached for the baby bottle. _

_ "Addie, I," Slade began. _

_ "You missed our son's birth." Addie spoke, not looking at him in the eye. "Do you have any idea how heartbroken I am? You missed your first child's birth." _

_ Slade states at his sleeping son as his wife talked. The baby is wearing a light blue onesie and is sucking on a pacifier. "Can I hold him?" He asked. Addie didn't answer and removed the pacifier. That's when the baby's eyes instantly opens and he begins to wail. Addie tries to get him to suck on the bottle, but he kept tossing and turning while screaming. _

_ "Please, baby. You gotta eat." Addie pleaded. But still, the baby kept moving. That's when Slade gentle pride the baby from his mother and into his arms. Slade took the bottle and got the baby to drink it. The baby's eyes slowly opened to reveal grey eyes. _

_ "That wasn't so hard, was it, little guy." Slade smiles. The baby kept on drinking it in peace. Slade looks at his son and his wife. "He looks like you, Addie. I'm glad." He said. "When he gets older, girls will be chasing after him." _

_ "Grant." Addie says. _

_ "What?" _

_ "I named our son, 'Grant'." _

_ "I like it. I think it suits him." _

_ "...." _

_ Slade sighs and sits down next to Addie who's avoiding eye contact. "I really am sorry, Addie. I didn't mean to missed Grant's birth. I tried really hard to finish my mission, honest to God, I did. But I'm not offering any excuses, I just want to let you know I'm here to help you raise our son together." By now Grant has finished eating and went back to sleep, making Slade smile on pure happiness. He kisses his son's cheek and began to gently rock him back and forth. "And I promise to always love and protect you, son." _

_ Tears are rolling down his eyes as the memory is now over. Grant touches his wet cheeks and gasp. "What the? When did I started crying?" He questions. He shook his head and covers his head. "All of this are just a bunch of pissed lies! That bastard didn't mean any of what he said! He's been manipulated us from the start!" Grant yells. Another light floats in front of him. Grant smacked it away and shook his head. "I don't want to see any more lies!" _

_ But the same light appears right in front of him and teleported in another memory. All Grant remembers is the huge amount of sadness he felt. _


	8. Chapter 8

"Dude, is he okay?"

"Grant just straight up fainted."

"Oh I do hope Grant is all right."

Four out of the six Titans are gather around Robin who has Ravager in his arms. "So this is what you mean to catch your body." Robin mutters to himself. He places Ravager gently on the ground and looks over at Raven. "Cyborg, how is she?" He asked.

He goes over to her side and uses his arm to scan her body from head to toe. His arm beeps and he looks over at the results. "Raven suffers from a couple of burns all over her body. Luckily, there's not as serious as they should be." Cyborg reveals.

"So we're out by two members!? Slade's gonna kill us for sure!" Beastboy panics.

"Speaking of Slade, he won't be a problem for awhile." Robin reminded them. They all look over to see Slade is also unconscious. Now they wait.

_ Meanwhile, at Slade's mind or conscious being, a light is hovering in front of Grant. "Let's get this over with." He rolls his eyes. The light shines brightly as Grant gets teleported to another memory. A wave of sadness courses through his body as tears are escaping his eyes. Grant gently touches his cheeks and gasp. "What the? I don't feel sad, but at the same time, I do. Is this… Is this  _ _ his _ _ sadness?" He questions. _

_ Grant sees himself at his old living room back home. He gasped when he saw his younger self in front of him. In front of his younger self, Slade is standing in front of them. _

_ "Dad, I want to be involved in your 'business'. Please take me on as an apprentice." Younger Grant begs. _

_ "I remember that day," Grant shook his head while smiling a bit, "It's the day where I confronted him on his mercenary ways. Boy, was I stupid back then." _

_ "Grant, you're sixteen. I'm afraid you're a little young to take under my wing." Slade rejected. "And besides, you're mother will be wondering why I'm taking you to California, but leaving Joey behind?" _

_ "Come on! It will just be for the summer. You don't even have to take me with you on your missions. You can simply teach me everything you know and it'll grow from then. And as for Mom wondering, you can tell her you're taking me there for a college tour. It wouldn't be that far fetch since I'll be graduating from school next year." Younger Grant replied. _

_ Slade didn't seemed impressed by his son's planning. "The answer is no, Grant. Now drop it." _

_ The young teen curled up his fist as his blonde bangs cast a shadow over his eyes. From a certain angle, Grant looks a little intimidated. Then his chin went up showing an evil smirk. "Fine, then I'll just tell Mom everything. Have fun explaining her about your little 'side business'." _

_ Slade only raised an eyebrow and then chuckles. "I find your attempt to blackmail me adorable, son. But what makes you think she'll believe you? You have no proof, no physical evidence. It will be your word against mine." _

_ "Oh? You don't think I don't?", Grant smugly replied. He takes a flashdrive from his pocket and held it up. "This drive contains all your transcript, offshore accounts, email screenshot, list of targets, and many more of you being the mercenary known as Deathstroke. Now who's the one in charge?" Younger Grant blackmails, while throwing the drive up in the air. _

_ Slade has a blank look, before quickly snatches the drive midair. Grant looks flabbergasted that the only piece of evidence is on the enemy's hand. "Clever, boy. But next time, try not to casually play with your evidence in front of the enemy." He lectures as he crushes the drive with his one hand. _

_ Now it was the son's turn to chuckle. "Now you're the adorable one, Dad. Do you honestly think I wouldn't have copies? I have them save up and store them away in a place you'll never find them." _

_ ".... Fine. You can come with me for training. Only _ _ training _ _ . You satisfied with this?" Slade comprised. _

_ "Yes!" Younger Grant cheers, while pumping up his fist. _

_ "That was a proud moment for me." Grant chuckles. _

_ 'I was very proud of him that day.' A voice spoke. _

_ "What the!? Who's there?!" He shouted. _

_ 'My own son bested me that day and I couldn't be more proud.' _

_ Grant recognize the voice to belong to his father. This is Slade narrating from the past! 'Of course I knew he was bluffing, since I place trackers in my kid's cell phones and Grant hasn't been anywhere that isn't home. Still, I was very happy that my own son wants to follow in my footsteps.' _

_ The memory fades out and the teen is back in the empty void. "Okay, that was new. I never heard a person narrate their memories before." Grant claps his hands with a smile, "Welp, I think I have seen enough of this shit. I should probably go back to my body now. Before he exited, the same wave of sadness courses through his body. "Ugh, not again. Why do I keep feeling that?" _

_ A bright light suddenly zooms right inside of him and again, was teleported to another memory. The same living room, but this time, there are about seven people there. Grant's eyes widen at the sight of the extra people wearing masks and holding knives against his mother and brother's throats. "Oh my God… This is the day were it happened." Grant mutters to himself. In front of the Jackals, his father is simply staring at them. There's no hate or fear in his cold grey eyes. Slade looks like he's simply observing them. _

_ "Alright, Deathstroke, tell us the name of the client who hired you and we'll let your family live!" The leader demands. _

_ "Slade, what's going on?! Who are these people and what do they want!?" Addie panicked _

_ "Don't worry, Addie. I got this under control." Slade smoothly replied. He turns to the leader who has the knife held against his son's throat. _

_ "Daddy, please don't let them kill me." Joey sobs. The leader pressed his knife harder against the boy's skin. "Help me, Daddy." Joey whimpers. _

_ "My patience running thin, Deathstroke! Who is the client that hired you!?!" The leader roars. _

_ "I live by my honor to never sell out my clients' secrets no matter what. Threaten me all you want, I'll never break by code of honor." Slade answers. _

_ Both Addie's and Joey's eyes widened in shock. They couldn't believe what their husband and father had said. The Jackals on the other hand got pissed off. "You rather save a stranger than to save your own family!?!" The leader exclaims in disbelief. _

_ "Ditto to that." Grant commented. _

_ "SLADE!" Addie screeches. Unbeknownst to everyone, Slade is slowly pulling a knife from his back pocket. The leader regains his composure and orders his men to kill the Wilson family. That's when Slade threw the knife at the Jackal that was holding his wife hostage. The knife went threw the Jackal's skull cleaning, thus saving Addie from harm. _

_ "Go, Dad!" Grant cheers. He then gasp and covers his mouth. "I can't believe I cheered for that bastard." _

_ The leader moved his arm ever so slightly and was suddenly met with a bullet between his eyes. The other two Jackals weren't quick to draw their weapons as Slade quickly gunned them both down. "See, Addie? There was nothing to fear." Slade stated. _

_ " _ ** _JOEY!_ ** _ " Addie screams. Slade turns around and his eyes widened in shock. Joey is standing still with his green eyes staring at them and his throat slashed across from ear to ear. The moment river of blood starts drawing through, Joey fell down on the floor. Addie let out an ear piercing cry at the sight of her son laying down at the pool of his own blood. _

_ Grant tried hard not to throw up at the sight of his little brother dying. He knows Jericho's alive now, but he never imagined it looked this bad. From a certain point of view, Joey looked dead. Grant silently vow after this is all over, he'll spend every time with his brother. _

_ "Joey!" Slade screams. He runs over to his son's side and tore open his mask. Now Grant can see his father's face looked absolutely devastated, something he never thought he'll see. Slade puts his ear on top of Joey's chest and then smiles. "He's still alive!" He exclaims in joy. _

_ "He is?" Addie whispers. Her whole body is trembling as Slade gently picks up his son's body and heads for the door. _

_ "He'll make it, Addie. I'll make sure of it." He promised before leaving. _

_ Grant watches as Slade drove like a maniac, breaking every road law in the books taking Joey to the hospital. He also witness threatening every doctor and nurses if they don't save his son. Slade spent the whole time at the hospital sitting in distraught for hours waiting for news. _

_ 'Those were the longest 7 hours of my life. Every second waiting for the surgeon to come out of the room was agony. This was the worst torture I've ever endure in my life.' _

_ "You think _ _ you _ _ feel bad, how do you think Joey was feeling!? His throat was fucking slashed!" Grant yells. He was livid. How dare did Slade made it about him! It was Joey who paid the price after all. _

_ The surgeon finally comes out of the room. His scrubs was covered in blood, his brother's blood. Slade was told that although they saved Joey's life, he will never speak again. The mercenary curled his fists and his whole body sook in anger. _

_ ‘I may have saved my son’s life, but at a huge cost. Now Joey will never speak again. I’ll no longer will hear his beautiful singing voice. I failed him. But I can fix this… No, I WILL fix this.’ _

_ The scene took Grant back to the living room in his house. Slade has just got home, still wearing his Deathstroke outfit. His mother looked up from the couch. Addie’s face was a mess: her eyes are red, her hair dischevel, mascara dripping from her face, and her sanity seems to be lost. _

_ “I got him to the hospital in time.” Slade spoke. Addie said nothing and kept staring at her husband. “He’ll live, Addie and I’ll be there for him during his recovery. He needs you to be strong to help him.” He said _

_ “The hospital called me five minutes ago.” Addie finally spoke. Her voice sounded hoarse like she’s been crying and screaming for hours. She glares at Slade and rose up from the couch. “All those business trips you’ve been taking, it’s all been a lie. You’ve been killing people for money. Everyday you’ve been putting us at risk.” Addie stated. Then her voice rose. “YOU RATHER HAVE A DEAD SON THEN TO ADMIT YOU’RE A MERCENARY!?! NONE OF THIS WOULD’VE HAPPENED IF YOU DIDN’T HAVE THIS ‘JOB’!: She screams in rage. _

_ Now it was her husband’s turn to be angry. “Don’t put all the blame on me, Addie! You should’ve been watching over him! You are a trained soldier, how did you let them captured you?! And by the way, I didn’t see you at the hospital the whole day! Instead, here you are wallowing in self pity!” Slade argued. Addie gasp and slaps him across the face. For a moment, Slade looked like he wanted to hit her back, but he instead sighs and heads to the door. “I need to tell William and Grant what happened. We’ll talk about this latter, Addie.” _

_ “You’re not going near Grant and Joey again. I forbid you from seeing them.” Addie hissed. _

_ “They’re my sons, Addie. You can’t stop me from seeing them.” _

_ “Watch me.”  _

_ The moment Slade turned away from her, Addie whips out a gun and pointed at the back of his head. _

_ “Addie?” _

** _BANG!_ **

_ The scene flashes forward to another scene. Grant sees his father sporting the iconic eyepatch over his right eye. Next to him is 16 year old Grant wearing a dark stealth suit. Father and son duo are walking up to an abandoned warehouse. Grant gasp at the familiar memory. “Oh God, this is the day I…” He didn’t finished his sentence  _

_ “So the target’s there, Deathstroke?” Younger Grant asked. _

_ “Not yet. We’ll be luring him here and that’s when we’ll strike.” Deathstroke replied. Younger Grant nodded and then looked ahead at the warehouse. His whole body shook with nervousness. _

_ “I don’t think I can do this.” _

_ “Don’t be afraid, son. I won’t leave your side.” _

_ “That isn’t why I was nervous.” Grant stated. “I was nervous because I didn’t think my plan would work.” _

_ “Now, go ahead and set everything up.” Deathstroke orders. Younger Grant nodded and ran ahead. His heart beating in dread. He went inside and pulled out the C4s. He also pulled up a corpse that resemble him. _

_ “It’s do or die.” Both past and present Grant said. _

_ Grant watched as his younger self ran out the back door and pushed the button. The entire warehouse exploded, knocking Deathstroke out his feet. His grey eye widened at the sight of the burning building. _

_ “ _ ** _Grant!_ ** _ ” Deathstroke screams. He immediately runs towards the warehouse. He looks around and spots a body. Slade took off his mask and cradles the body. “Grant, can you hear me?” The body made no sound and Slade brought the body close to him to listen for a heartbeat. “No… no… you can’t be dead.” He said in a small voice. His grey eye begins watered. _

_ “Oh my God… Dad really cried for me?” Grant gasped. _

_ Slade held the body close to him and rocked it. “Please, Grant, open your eyes! I can’t lose you too!" He begs.  _

_ “This is a lie. That bastard doesn’t care for anyone but himself!” Grant shouts. He looks at Slade with hate in his eyes. “I’m not falling for those crocodile tears! You’re not fooling anyone!” _

_ He decided he had enough of this bullshit and left his father’s conscious.  _

Grant flutters his eyes open to see the Titans, minus Raven all gather up around him. They smile when they saw their friend finally awake. 

“Welcome back, Grant.” Robin greeted.


	9. Chapter 9

Robin helps Ravager slowly up to his feet. He has a pounding headache since he spends too long in someone else’s consciousness. Ravager realized that Raven is still out cold. “How is she?” He asked.

“She hasn’t woken up since.” Cyborg answers. “I’m afraid she might have a conconscious.”

“Is that bad?” Starfire questions.

“Yes, it is.” Cyborg nodded.

Beastboy dramatically slides up to Raven’s unconscious body. “Don’t sweat, dudes. I know a way to wake her up.” He stated. Cyborg and Starfire stared at the changeling rather unamused. “I’m gonna give her mouth-to-mouth!” Beastboy exclaims.

Both Starfire and Cyborg comedically drop to the ground in disbelief. Ravager and Robin stared at Beastboy with a blank look on their faces.

“Are you crazy!?!” They both screeched. Beastboy ignores them and proceeds to tilt Raven’s head up. Just as he plucks his lips together, Raven’s eyes instantly opened.

When she saw Beastboy about to kiss her, her face morphs in disgust. A black aura engulfs him and is flung away across the warehouse. She levitates herself back up and pulls her hood over her head,

“Never pull that stunt again!” Raven threatens. Beastboy plus his hands up as he chuckles nervously.

"Chill out, Rae. I was never gonna kiss you. I know pulling this stunt will pull you outta your coma." Beastboy explains.

"Oh, I see! This was all an elaborate plan to awaken friend Raven from her trance state. What an ingenious plan, Beastboy." Starfire praised while clapping.

Raven turns around to see Robin and Ravager bounding Slade’s arms and feet. “Did Grant just defeated Slade?” She asked.

“Yep!” Beastboy chirped. He began to make a series of mock kung fu fighting and noises. “I bet Grant was like, ‘take that!’ and Slade was like, ‘ahh! Please son, don’t beat me!”

Starfire and Cyborg were immediately amused by Beastboy’s performance and are rolling on the ground laughing. Raven heads her way to where the boys are. Robin is calling the authorities while Ravager is looking down at his father with pity.

“You okay?” Raven asks.

Ravager took a deep breath and looks at his father one last time. Raven offers a gentle smile, letting him know she isn’t there to judge. “I saw his memories. I felt his memories. I still don’t want to believe he genuinely cares about my brother and us. I want him to have no remorse at all.” Ravager confessed. 

“Maybe that’s a good thing.” Raven stated. Ravager whipped his head up to glare at her. "Not every kid is lucky to have a villainous parent that cares about them. Take me for example. Even though my father, Trigon's a demon, I... I wanted him to love me. I wanted him to be a true father to me. But that will never happen. You have a chance to mend it if you want to, Grant."

"...Will see."

It's been two weeks since they put Slade away. Things has gotten back to normal. Word got out on Deathstroke's defeat in both the heroes and villains society. The Titans has gotten the recognition they deserve. They wanted Grant to have all the credit, but he politely declined. All seems well, but Grant has some unfinished business.

"Are you sure you don't want us to go with you?" Robin asked. "You can say the word and we'll be there in ten minutes."

Grant stares at the communicator where he sees Robin looking concerned. "That's alright, kid. I can handle this."

"If you insist. Good luck." Robin signs off. Grant puts away the communicator before giving it to a prison guard. Right now he's at Jump City jailhouse where Slade is at before transferring to Blackgate Penitentiary in Gotham.

Grant can feel his heart racing as he waits for his father in the visitor room. _ I don't know why I want to visit that bastard in jail. Maybe I should go. _ Before he can get up to leave, the door opens and out steps a bunch of guards. He sees his father who's entire body is wrapped in chains as the guards pull them. Slade seems quite surprised to see it's Grant the one visiting.

Grant picks up the phone and Slade does the same. Nobody talked for a full minute. They instead stare at one another intensely. "I can't do it. This was a mistake." Grant sighs, breaking the silence.

"Wait! Please stay." Slade spoke. Against his better judgement, he did. "I know you won't believe, but I want to tell you how proud I am of you, son."

"What are you proud of? For teaching me how to kill? To lie? For wanting to be you? How much of an egomaniac do you have to be?"

"No to all of those. I'm proud that you didn't take after me. You became your own man and you surpassed me in every way. You truly are better than me."

Grant's body shook in anger and he can feel his tears threatening to come out of his eyes. "Then why throw all that away? We could've been off if you have just done one mission. But you endangered us all every time you accept a new mission. I just wished you were there for both of us growing up. Or better yet, never have kids in the first place so you don't have to worry about letting us down. Seems you're life would've been better if you never had kids."

"Don't say that! I may have regret a lot of things, but you and Joey are not one of them. You and your brother are one of the best things in my life. I hope you can believe me."

"I don't think I can." Grant admits. He got up to face away from his father as tears rolls down his eyes. Without turning around, "Goodbye, father."

Slade watched his son leave the room, leaving him alone with the guards. "Happy Birthday, Grant."

Now Grant is sweating bullets as his whole body shakes like a leaf. In front of him is his childhood home where he grew up. Joey clasps his hand around his brother's in assurance.

"_ Don't be afraid, bro. I'm sure mother will be happy to see you. _" Joey signs.

"I'm not sure she'll be happy, Joe. This is_ mother _ we're talking about. She'll most likely scream bloody murder before attempting to kill for thinking I'm a zombie." Grant said.

Joey giggles and playfully punches his brother in the stomach. "_ Don't worry about a thing, bro. She got really better when she heard father's in jail." _

"She did? Good for her. But I'm still scare shitless."

"_ No matter what happens, I'm right by your side." _

Grant smiles and ruffles Joey's hair. "You better, you little shit." He turns around and took a deep breath, "Here goes nothing."

**Ding Dong!**

The door opens to reveal a brown hair woman with green eyes that matches Joey and a beauty mark under her left eye. The difference between her eyes and Joey's is that her's seems to be a bit dull. She slowly turns to look at Grant with a blank look in her eyes.

Grant shook harder than ever and offer her a meekly smile. Addie immediately raises her arm up as Grant braced himself for an attack. Instead, Addie wraps her arms around her son and begins to sob uncontrollably. Grant slowly hugs her back and smiles.

"Oh Grant, my sweet baby. I just knew you were alive. I'm so sorry for failing you." Addie apologized.

Now it was Grant's turn to get all teary eyed. "Don't apologise, mom. I kept everything from you. Everything could've been avoided if I told you what father was since the beginning. I'm the reason why everything went to shit."

"But I'm your mother. It's a job of a parent to protect their babies."

Addie extends her hand to Joey, who gladly took it, and joins the group hug. The tree of them went inside the house. They sat down in the living room to continue their conversation.

"So, I spoke to father recently." Grant blurts out. Both Addie and Joey stiffened their bodies for a moment. 

"What did he say?" Addie asked.

"That he's sorry for everything."

"_ More like he's sorry he's been caught. _" Joey rolls his eyes.

"No, I think he's telling the truth. I saw his memories. He felt like a failure for letting you and mom getting captured and me 'dying' in his arms. I know you might hate me for this, but I can see myself forgiving him."

Addie and Joey were quiet for a moment before his mother patted his hand. "If that's what you believe you'll do, I won't hate you. He's still your father." She smiles.

Joey smiles and gave Grant a side hug. "_ Everyone's different, brother. I'll support you no matter what. And who knows? Maybe someday I can forgive him too _."

"Thanks, guys."

"You know what, boys?" Addie pulls the brothers closer to her arms and gave them the biggest smile she ever had. "I may hate your father for all eternity, to the point where I'll shoot him again if I see him, but there's two things I'm forever thankful for. He gave me the best sons a mother could ever ask for."

"We love you too, mom!" Her sons replied.

The sun is setting as Grant leaves his mother's house. Addie invited him to stay the night over, but Grant needed to get back to Jump City as soon as possible. The day went by fast and although Grant will miss his hometown, he already misses Jump City more.

He has about to leave his street when he immediately jumps away from an incoming arrow. "What in the world!?" He gasped. His sixth sense screams danger at him as he backflips a couple of times to avoid a horde of arrows.

His grey eyes shrink in fear as he sees a couple of people running at roofs on people's houses. There's about twenty of them where they all jump down to surround him. All of them are dressed in black from head to toe, have a pair of swords, and are wearing a black mask that covers their nose and jaws Grant took a step back when he realized who he's up against.

"You guys are…" Grant trails off in fear.

"We have orders to take you out, Grant Wilson." One of them spoke.

They all began to charge at him at once. As soon as one of them got too close to Grant, he knees one in the guts and took the sword away. He blocks an oncoming blade with the one he just stole. Slade has taught him a thing or two of sword fighting and let's just say Grant picked it up very fast.

He begins to lay out a series of attacks towards the League of Shadows. Grant starts slicing up their limbs to get this over with as soon as possible. None of them stood against the young teen as he finished off the last one by slicing his eyes open. All twenty assassins are on the ground groaning in pain. Grant stabs the sword on the ground as he pants.

"My, that was quite impressive. You took them all down without taking their lives. Truly impressive."

Grant turned around and his heart sank down in fear. Walking up to him with a cruel smile on his face is none other than Ra Al Gul. Grant picked up the sword and got into a fighting position.

"What do you want, demon?" Grant glares at him.

Ra chuckles and gestures to Grant to set the sword down, "Calm down, my boy. There's no need to get hostile."

"Like hell! I know who you are! You bring death and destruction to civilization! Now what do you want! Are you here to destroy my city!?" Grant demands.

"No, my dear boy. I came for you." Ra grins sinisterly. Grant gasp and his grip to his sword got tighter. "I heard the Titans took down Deathstroke. But let's be real, the Titans can't fight out their way out a paper bag. No, Deathstroke's defeat was all you, my boy." Ra said.

"If you're here to recruit, you can fuck off! I'm not joining your little boy band!" Grant refused.

"Oh, my boy. You don't have a choice." Ra chuckles. Then his face got dark. He snaps his fingers and more assassins popped out. "I have my elite shadows waiting for my signal to take out your mother and brother."

"No…" Grant whispers in despair.

"All you need to do is join me and no harm will come to them."

Grant looks over to his house where he spots three assassins on top of the roof. As good a fighter his mother is, not even she can take one a league member. He got done to his knees realizing there's no way out.

"I'll do it." He accepted.

Ra gave him the biggest grin and walked right in front of him. "Get up, my boy. This is a time for celebration."

Grant got up and as soon as he did, Ra ram him sword to his chest. Grant coughs up blood and looks at Ra in shock. "I thought-"

"Don't be afraid, Grant. It will only hurt for a minute. But I promise you you'll be resurrected when we get back. I have big plans for you, my Ravager." Ra assures him. He pulls the sword out and Grant stumbles forward. He can feel his life quickly slipping away.

_ Mom, Joey, Robin, Beastboy, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven…. Dad. I'll never see you again. I'm sorry _.

That was the last thing Grant thought before dropping to the ground dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's more Wilson babies!  
https://www.deviantart.com/radomanime/art/The-Wilson-Brothers-829303394


End file.
